Each weekday, Mashable chooses one startup to profile in our Spark of Genius series. While we’re inundated with applications from great startups, it’s more demand than we can keep up with.

In response, we’re kicking off a new series we’ll use to feature even more companies worthy of reader attention. Each weekend, we’ll handpick a few startups that we think are building interesting, unique or niche products.

Parking In Motion, for instance, is working to solve a problem that most drivers experience on a daily basis: finding parking spots. FullForesome is a niche social network for golfers that helps them do more of what they love do — golf. LikeJournal is taking a stab at turning Facebook “likes” into bookmarks. And then there’s AirRun, an iPhone app for gofers; it’s a practical app for an economy still on the mend.

All worthy ideas, we think. Take a look, test them out and then share your thoughts with us in the comments.

PIM: App Makes Parking Easy

Mashable’s Take: Finding a parking spot in metropolitan areas can be a hassle. PIM provides users with a map or list view of 16,000 parking locations in 300 U.S. cities, 50 Canadian cities and 200 European cities to simplify the process.

App users can also check out prices, hours of operations, remaining capacity and entry points, as well as pay and reserve a spot before they arrive. Eventually, PIM will add support so users can pay their parking meters remotely. Android and BlackBerry versions of the app are also in the works.

AirRun: Outsource Jobs to iPhone Users

Genius Idea: Hire cheap labor for the tasks you don’t want to do yourself.

Mashable’s Take: Earlier in the week, Gigawalk launched with a splash by offering iPhone users a quick and easy way to sign up to complete tasks in exchange for compensation. AirRun operates under the same model — anyone can outsource jobs to iPhone users interested in making a quick buck.

With AirRun, users can be seekers or runners. Seekers create jobs, specify the pay for the services they’re requesting and select applicants to fulfill their requests. Runners can locate nearby tasks on a map, apply to complete jobs and get compensated for their services, all via the application.

LikeJournal: Bookmarking Site for Facebook “Likes”

Quick Pitch:LikeJournal is a social bookmarking site powered by the Facebook Like Button.

Genius Idea: Treating “likes” as bookmarks.

Mashable’s Take: When you click the Facebook Like button, you’re sharing your interest in something with your Facebook friends. The action is also not dissimilar to bookmarking a website to revisit later. Such is the premise behind LikeJournal, a site that collects your Facebook “likes” as bookmarks.

In addition to its website, LikeJournal offers both Chrome and Firefox extensions to give users quick access to their recent “likes” and “like” search functionality. The overall experience is quite rudimentary right now, but as Facebook users log more “likes,” there’s certainly potential for LikeJournal to build out a service that helps users better manage their “likes.”

FullForesome: A Social Network for Golfers

Quick Pitch:FullForesome is a website and iPhone application that makes it incredibly easy for users to round up playing partners for a round of golf.

Genius Idea: Never schedule a tee time for one again.

Mashable’s Take: Avid golfers are often in search of partners — at least, that’s what I hear from my father, the golfer. FullForesome, a social networking site for golf enthusiasts, offers users a simple way to find and pair up with other golfers via its website and companion iPhone application [iTunes link].

The FullForesome user can specify course preferences, add friends, schedule tee times and use the app to solicit friends or strangers with similar interests to join him or her in a round of golf. Course managers can also choose to sign up to help their customers better coordinate their golf plans.

With ringing endorsements from trade publications, the service seems very well suited for digitally-savvy golf aficionados.

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Mother’s Day is upon us, and what’s that? You haven’t gotten her a card yet? There’s still time for an eCard. We’ll show you some of the best ones we found.

If you haven’t visited the eCard universe lately, you’ll be surprised how sophisticated they’ve become. Gone are the amateurish graphics and tacky music, replaced by symphonic scores and majestic 3D animations.

Some of the cards in the gallery below are free, while most of them require a “membership” to the cardmaker’s site. Either way, all will get you out of this procrastination predicament you’re finding yourself in right now:

Jacquie Lawson

This lovely work of art from Jacquie Lawson plays a waltz by Chopin with a payoff at the end: there's a flower arrangement that reveals the meaning of each flower. One-year membership is $12.

American Greetings

This one from American Greetings is accompanied by beautiful music, excellent animation and a full-screen surprise at the end. Free Trial.

O Jolie

O Jolie's "Secret Garden" features subtle animation, soothing classical music and understated elegance. Works for birthdays and other occasions, too. $12/year membership

Someecards

Be careful sending one of these Someecards -- some moms might find them refreshingly forthright, honest, and maybe even hilarious, while others might be offended. We like this one because it makes fun of the giver rather than the receiver. This one's free.

Blue Mountain

Hallmark

Hallmark brings the doo-wop music along with a whimsical animation that emphasizes gratitude for all dear Mom's done for you. And this one's free.

JibJab

JibJab lets you insert your face into the proceedings with "Mom Rap," a goofy video and serenade for your mom. You might like this one more than she does, but if she has a sense of humor, you're golden. If so, she might just be going around the house for the next few days saying "You better watch your booty when Mom's in the 'hood!" $12/year membership.

This week was dominated by the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, and social media was right there to watch, track and comment on the news as it unfolded. However, the week started on a lighter note with President Obama and Saturday Night Live lead writer Seth Meyers taking the stage for the White House Correspondents Dinner. The jokes, especially those about Osama bin Laden and the fight against terrorism, take on new meaning in the run-up to the military operation.

This weekly series picks out some of the week’s top stories in the intersection of digital technology and politics. Have a look through and let us know what you think by joining the conversation in the comments below.

The New York Times Lede Blog did a great job trying to cull the facts, including an official narrative released from the White House, which also took to the Internet and social media to help break the news and to spread information.

The White House has not released an image of Bin Laden’s body, however, it did release pictures of the president and his team in the Situation Room observing the operation. The pictures, posted on the White House’s Flickr page, have already become some of the most viewed on the popular photo-sharing site. Flickr told Mashable some of the pictures have more than 600,000 views, with some receiving more than 13,000 views per minute when they were released.

The State Department, FBI Investigate Change.org Attacks

Government officials have taken a stand against the denial of service attacks slamming Change.org, a U.S.-based activism platform.

The FBI has also joined in, says Change.org founder Ben Rattray. “We heard today the FBI’s cybersecurity people are investigating to see what more they can uncover,” Rattray told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Gay Rights Go Viral

When Minnesota Rep. Steve Simon, a Democrat from the Minneapolis suburbs, asked his colleagues to re-think their stance on homosexuality, he probably wasn’t expecting the speech would be put on YouTube and receive more than 244,000 views in four days. He raised the theoretical question that homosexuality is innate, or God-given, “How many more gay people does God have to create before we ask ourselves whether or not God actually wants them around?”

The rhetorical question didn’t actually change the final vote; the committee voted 10-7 to forward a bill banning same-sex marriage.

Finally, on a lighter note, the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner took place last Saturday. Obama showed he could dish as good as he could take by poking fun at the birther movement. He showed a “video” of his actual birth, instead playing a clip from Disney’s The Lion King, then joking: “I want to make clear to the Fox News table, that was a joke. That was not my real birth video, that was a children’s cartoon. Call Disney if you don’t believe me, they have the original, long-form version.”

Seth Meyers, the night’s comedy speaker, aimed some jokes at both sides of the aisle including jabs at C-SPAN, Donald Trump and America’s international debt: “Let me just say up top that this evening I'm going to be making a lot of jokes about many of the people in this room, but don't worry, I assure you no matter how harsh the jokes, they have all been vetted by the man at the top, Chinese President Hu Jintao.”

Both Meyers and Obama ended their speeches by thanking the press for their work bringing important issues and stories to the public, even when those stories put them in danger.

Learning to code is something every tech-minded person should try at least once — and the wealth of online courses, many of which are free or surprisingly inexpensive, make learning about programming easier than ever.

If you’re thinking of picking up C++, Ruby on Rails, Python or Java, these online options might be a good way to test the waters of programming before you fully invest your time and money in formal training or certifications. And if you’re a veteran programmer in need of resources for learning new languages, these sites might help you a bit, too.

One disadvantage of learning to code through an online platform is the lack of face-to-face interactions with an instructor. But don’t let that intimidate you — Google, Stack Overflow, and other online forums (even Twitter) are great ways to get help when your code won’t compile, you don’t understand a concept or you just get frustrated.

In the comments, let us know if you’ve found other great resources for learning about programming — or other sites for support and Q&A for newer developers.

UC Berkeley Webcast/Courses

The University of California at Berkeley has an extensive catalog of webcasts, including events and courses. The coursework is entirely free to access, and it includes video and audio webcasts of computer sciences classes from the current semester all the way back to 2003.

Mozilla's School of Webcraft

Mozilla's 100% free developer training site is all about teaching noobs and jedis alike how to code. If you want to get started coding with something like HTML or if you're an experienced dev who wants to dive into Python, the School of Webcraft is something worth checking out. Several courses generally run simultaneously, and new classes are being drafted all the time.

Google Code University

From Google Code, we have the Code University, a free and fascinating resource. And of course, it has its own forums for learners to ask questions and get help. True beginners can also start out with the introductions and tutorials, which are designed with newer devs in mind.

MIT's OpenCourseWare

If you've dreamed of studying computer science at one of the U.S.'s leading tech institutions, here's your chance. MIT's free and accessible courses are great for ambitious would-be coders. Check out the full list of courses for computer science, which include introductions to Java, Python, C++ and more.

Series Supported by Rackspace

The Web Development Series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. No more worrying about web hosting uptime. No more spending your time, energy and resources trying to stay on top of things like patching, updating, monitoring, backing up data and the like. Learn why.

While images of Osama Bin Laden‘s dead body are still under wraps, the Pentagon released five unflattering home videos seized by the Navy SEALs when they attacked his compound on Monday.

The five videos, released without audio, are small part of what officials told the AP is the “largest collection of senior terrorist materials ever collected.”

Do you think these videos add further credibility to the already near-certainty that it was indeed Bin Laden and his associates who were killed in that secure compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan? Here’s another:

Getting paranoid about security? You’re not alone. The security of your personal data and credit card information somehow feels more precarious than ever. Add to that concerns about national security and your own financial stability, and many people start getting that jittery feeling.

According to Unisys, its U.S. Security Index is currently 164, up from 136 six months ago, which Unisys calls “a serious level of concern.” Given the security breach of the Sony PlayStation Network and other high-profile hacking incidents, that index is probably even higher now, given that this Unisys data was acquired in a survey conducted in mid-February, 2011.

This infographic from Unisys was compiled from data gathered from 1,005 completed interviews of randomly sampled individuals:

Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR, CPLP, is the HR Bartender, whose blog is a friendly place to discuss workplace issues. When not “bartending,” Sharlyn is president of Internal Talent Management, which specializes in leadership training and human resources consulting.

Last month, the White House launched an initiative, "Joining Forces," to support and honor America's service members and their families. Employment is one of the key components to this initiative, which is supported by organizations ranging from Sesame Street to the Siemens Corporation. Joining Forces will focus on both job availability for soldiers transitioning from active duty as well as help for spouses who are looking for new jobs because of transfers.

If you are a veteran or know someone who is, here are six targeted employment sites that can assist with a job search. Let us know of any others in the comments.

Military.com offers a careers section with the "largest veteran job board in the world." Individuals can search for jobs, create and post resumes, network with other veterans and find nearby career fairs. There's a list of military friendly employers, including Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Allstate, Walmart and Boeing.

There's also a section dedicated to transition resources, including information about education benefits and relocation, in addition to stories from military personnel who have already made the transition from active duty.

The employment section features popular career choices for veterans, including jobs for individuals with security clearance. And the site has an extensive military spouse career center.

VetJobs has been in existence since 1999, and it’s considered one of the leading job boards for veterans, having reached more than 10 million individuals. The site is sponsored exclusively by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

Registration is free, and individuals can post resumes and search for job openings on the site. VetJobs includes a listing of upcoming military career fairs and also offers a spouse portal. The resources page includes additional listings for state-specific job boards and provides common interview questions. It also contains information about how veterans can start their own businesses, whether on their own or via franchising.

VetJobs publishes three monthly newsletters –- one for veterans, another for employers and a third for recruitment advertising agencies.

America's Veteran is the official website of the U.S. Government, operated by the Office of Personnel Management to help vets find jobs in the federal government. Individuals can search for jobs as a veteran, transitioning service member or family member. There's a page called "Vet to Vet" where veterans share their stories and there’s also a Facebook Page.

One unique feature of this site is the listing of Veteran Employment Program Offices, which provides contact names, emails and phone numbers. The site encourages veterans to contact these individuals for information about employment opportunities.

The G.I. Jobs site provides a lot of career advice, including tips on how to find a job in the civilian workforce, a military-to-civilian pay calculator, what to put on your resume, what to wear to an interview and more. There is also a newsletter, in addition to Facebook and Twitter pages.

One section of this site features interviews about hiring military personnel with recruiters from companies like DHL Express, so job seekers can read — directly from the source — about the advantages and disadvantages of hiring veterans.

Individuals can search for job openings by industry — a search under “internet services” yielded these positions (above) at Intuit. The listings also offer a direct link to the company's recruitment website.

National Veterans Foundation serves the crisis management, information and referral needs of U.S. veterans and their families. The informational resources include: a blog, a legal resource center and an employment center with job listings.

There's a dedicated section for new veterans along with a page called "First Steps," which outlines some of the initial decisions a new veteran has to consider. The resource center page has a downloadable booklet to help veterans take the mystery out of dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The NVF operates the nation's only toll-free helpline for all veterans and their families. There is also a live chat and an online request form.

MilitaryHire.com is a site developed and maintained by a team of military veterans and corporate hiring authorities. Its mission is to "serve those who served." The site has been recognized by the employment research firm Weddle's as being a top site for job seekers. Veterans can sign up for free to search their job database, apply for jobs online and post their resumes. They can also check out the homepage for a list of upcoming career fairs.

If you would like to stay connected to the Joining Forces initiative, you can check out its website, Facebook Page and Twitter feed. With U.S. Armed Forces day coming up on May 21, we can all thank veterans by helping them and their families transition into civilian life in a positive way.

Social Media Job Listings

Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

Post time for the Kentucky Derby 2011 is at 6:24 EDT today (NBC Coverage starts at 4 p.m. EDT), but in the meantime, which horse to pick? Let’s use some Twitter analysis to see which horse has gotten the most buzz, and maybe that will help us pick a winner.

Update: Can Twitter predict the winner? No. The results are in, and in this case, Twitter buzz did correctly predict that Mucho Macho Man would be the third-place horse. Slightly impressive, but it missed the others by a mile (or maybe I should say 6 furlongs). Here are the official results:

1. Animal Kingdom

2. Nehro

3. Mucho Macho Man

Thanks to CBS and the Parnassus Group, which analyzed some 4000 tweets that referenced the Derby back to May 2, we might be able to gather some insight. However, don’t bet on that horse that received the most tweets, because Uncle Mo will not be running in the race — he was scratched from the lineup.

Early on Saturday, the odds-on favorite was Dialed In, but that horse received fewer tweets than Pants on Fire in the tweeting stats — the odds currently predict Pants on Fire will come in second. However, odds are that the third-place horse will be either Mucho Macho Man or Twice the Appeal, and Much Macho Man is in the correct position, with both near the top of the Twitter stats but not exactly in order. Keep in mind that the Kentucky Derby odds are constantly changing right up to post time.

Could this be a reliable betting tool? So far, it’s not exactly matching up with the odds. Let’s take a look at the data of the Parnassus Group, and after today’s race, see how accurately the number of tweets match up with the race results:

It should be noted that despite the intensity of the bin Laden news, the Royal Wedding did come in at a close second.

To see the full list, check out the chart below. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart. The aggregate is based on Twitter’s own trending algorithm, and does not necessarily reflect raw tweet volume.

Justin Bieber accidentally tweeted #pssst when he was trying to tweet #pissed instead, thus causing this to trend. People are tweeting secrets to one another or showing reasons why someone is "pissed." Users asked their followers if they prefer Justin Bieber or Bruno Mars.

#5

Soccer/Football

1

Much discussed football topics include Sunday’s upcoming Manchester United vs. Chelsea match, Lionel Messi, the retirement of Sami Tuomas Hyypiä, the Queens Park Rangers fault, the Champions League match Manchester United v Schalke and the Derby between two massive soccer clubs from Brazil: Grêmio Foot-ball Porto Alegrense and Sport Club Internacional.

#6

Star Wars Day

1

Science fiction fans celebrated Star Wars on the 4th of May, tweeting the phrase "May the Fourth be with you!"

#7

Lady Gaga

1

Lady Gaga fans were excited about the release of "Judas," her latest music videol. And it’s not clear how or when it started, but users are tweeting "Lord Voldemort + Lady Gaga = Lord Gaga."

#8

Chris Brown

1

On Thursday, R&B singer Chris Brown turned 22 years old and his fans sent him good wishes.

#9

NBA Playoffs

1

Fans were most vocal about the Miami Heat meeting the Boston Celtics in the NBA Conference Semi-Finals. Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls was announced the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2010-11 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

#10

Owl City

1

Indonesian Tweeters were excited over an announcement that the band Owl City would be playing a concert in Jakarta on October 28. Also, fans were saying how much they liked the Owl City song "Vanilla Twilight."